Chelsea 2-0 Stoke | Are we back?

It’s good to win. Some of the recent defeats have knocked our morale and confidence so much that any win feels good. Feels so good. After the recent defeats against Inter and Citeh, we had to beat Stoke to show that our season is not crumbling. This was a quarterfinal and this was against a team that had already despatched Arsenal and Citeh. But I wouldn’t call this a great performance or even a performance that gave me confidence. We were clearly superior and helped ourselves by finishing a couple of chances. Certainly, we displayed a sense of clarity in all parts of the pitch.

Hilario managed to strike a goal kick beyond half way line. He made a good save at the near post. His goal was not disturbed even after numerous Delap throws. He was not confidence personified but compared to his performance in the last home game, he has improved 200%. Alex was pretty good, made some crucial blocks and some smart tackles but I don’t think he was truly tested. Nobody in the Stoke team had enough pace to bother Alex. I was very very impressed with Ferreira’s performance. You can say he wasn’t tested too but I thought he was very good in defence as well as offence.

Ivanovic is a real ‘Mr.Dependable’. I’ve become such a fan of this guy that I’d get a No.2 jersey. He’s a perfect Chelsea player – determined, passionate, has great attitude and more importantly, he gives you this sense of assurance. I love him. Do we realise that he has an awesome throw, that could be second only to Delap. May be he should work on it consciously and make that a potent weapon for Chelsea. The highlight of the match was John Terry’s goal celebration. I thought that was a cracking one. If he had spotted Capello anywhere near, he could have thrown the armband on the Italian’s face. It would have been nice drama, right?

I’m struggling how to assess Anelka’s performance. On one side, he played really well – worked hard, held the ball well, created chances for himself and others but on the other side, he should have got a hattrick. He should get better. We’ve got 10 matches left in the premier league. He should get back in scoring form pretty soon. It’s been some time since Drogba’s scored some of his kind of goals. Kalou was decent. It’s just that his goalmouth awareness doesn’t seem to improve.

Malouda was at his consistent best but it appeared that Malouda did not want to score a goal. He was clearly feeding to Drogba, Anelka and Lampard but didn’t get into scoring positions himself. It was a relief to seem him in the midfield instead of defence. Our midfield of Lampard, Mikel and Malouda was very assured. Mikel was flawless and that goal line clearance (and how responsibly he got there in the first place) was very crucial. Lampard’s back on scoring form. He should have had at least one more.

The Citeh result was very painful. I wanted that result to be the positive turnaround. Before that, I wanted to know how the players felt about the result. Surely, they’re not going to talk too much about it. But here I have a comment that I was looking for, from none other than John Terry:

I thought we played well, bounced back from a disappointing result and performance last week. We needed to show the fans how much that defeat [to Manchester City] hurt.

Our FA Cup semi final would be at Wembley (not at Villa Park as I had incorrectly mentioned before – thanks!) and hopefully we’ll get past Villa in April. We play West Ham at the Bridge next weekend. Three points is what we need. The key is to not even think about the Inter match. Let’s hammer the hammers. KTBFFH!

What I am? Uber football addict, optimistic Chelsea fan, casual gamer and long time blogger with views and opinions rather than stats and data. What I'm not? Expert, analyst, pundit or self-proclaimed guru of anything. I choose when to be biased and when not to be. Views and opinions are all mine and not what you always might want to see. Follow me on twitter @bluechampion for the headlines.

55 Comments

Good one BC...,
Just did More than enuff...,
aLex was Rock at the back...,Loved his tackle in the first half on Tuncay..,bloody good one..
Paulo did well.,actually very well...nice to see him him produce great crosses with his not so favourite Left foot..
Good start to March i feel...

[quote comment="80727"]We did not make a single substituiton. Was ancelotti too scared?[/quote]
i think he was afraid, not even DANNY!, danny boy deserves to start or even a sub appearance, we can see that j. cole is not trusted by carlo to come up0 with a good performance.

@ EVERYONE,
good to see you all love IVANO!! I dont care if he plays at CB/RB or LB lol. I loved the guy ever since he stepped foot inn chelsea!!!!!!!! I am very happy for him, jose will have to be converted to a midfield after injury...lol i have the same feeling about MATIC!!!
i want to see Neven Subotic at chelsea!!, and i want to see Rajcovic come back and cover that lb and cb as well.

Guys I'm not surprised with Ferreira!! the man has always been consistent at his job, its just that one day somme asshole woke up and felt he was not tat good again, he aint thhe best inn attack.. but you can count on him in defense for the entire 90 mins!! and he can give quite a few great crosses, just doesn't have great pace, but he is a true blue soldier !

It was a great match and i would applaud the defenders above anyone else! Only thing that i didn't like about the first 11 is that i would prefer Joey over Kalou because the latter does very well coming off the bench!

I loved the goals because it is from the two best friends at Chelsea, assisting each other superbly!

I love Ivanovic, i loved him since that stunning header brace against loserfool!

I think we had a decent game.Completely agree with you on Ivanovic,BC.He has probably been our best player for the season.I was not too impressed by Kalou.I think he gave away possession cheaply.But nonetheless,a good enough performance to go past a dangerous Stoke City.

[quote comment="80737"]Kalou should be subbed with Kakuta or even Joey... He over dribbled and turned over, which will cost us if we play top flight team. I prefer Joey/Kakuta over him million times![/quote]

Whats happening with Essian, does anyone know if hes out for the season?
This will be a disaster, as we need him back to firm up the midfield, Mikel to many mistakes, to many mistakes, to many mistakes and not up to this level, how much longer do we have to put up with this, he will cost us.

Ranting and raving, i know but someones got to say something about it.

[quote comment="80744"]I dont think the chelsea players have the class or the nerve to finish the season on a high....

they are just people who crack under pressure...

with a pathetic and an ageing squad like chelsea one cannot expect anything better........and the worst part is that this squad is gonna get worse cuz the players are not gettin any younger.....

the good ones are getting old and the new ones (like santo, mikel, kalou, sturridge etc) are a disgrace to the sport of football.[/quote]

Sunny - Your statement of those players being 'a disgrace to football' is a disgrace to the understanding and following of football. Why are they exactly a 'disgrace to football'. Surely you must admit that you lost it, eh?

[quote comment="80745"][quote comment="80744"]I dont think the chelsea players have the class or the nerve to finish the season on a high....

they are just people who crack under pressure...

with a pathetic and an ageing squad like chelsea one cannot expect anything better........and the worst part is that this squad is gonna get worse cuz the players are not gettin any younger.....

the good ones are getting old and the new ones (like santo, mikel, kalou, sturridge etc) are a disgrace to the sport of football.[/quote]

Sunny - Your statement of those players being 'a disgrace to football' is a disgrace to the understanding and following of football. Why are they exactly a 'disgrace to football'. Surely you must admit that you lost it, eh?[/quote]

Not sure why Ancelotti decided to either, well then again, we have a game against West Ham next so Carlo might have wanted to keep up the fitness of his choice 11 with an eye on Inter maybe?

Joey is a touchy subject. His form has been hampered by managerial change, being pushed out of the squad by grant and scolari, injury and now squad rotation problems again. Its hard because everyone knows Chelsea don't want to lose Joe Cole and Joe Cole doesn't want to leave, it's all just that he wants more money. To be honest, I don't think Joey is in the long term plans of Ancelotti. The fact is Joe Cole isn't at the level he was a few years back and ALOT of wingers are cropping up on the market, guys that can score free kicks, head goals, outrun any player. I love watching Joe Cole in a Chelsea shirt but I'll admit unless he starts scoring like midfielders on £120,000 per game, Abramovich will not pay him it and with Franck Ribery looking to make a move.....well, say no more.

Bosingwa is out for a while now. Ivanovic has been great going foward as a rightback and bosingwa will find it hard to shift him. I've always been in favour of using Bosingwa as a winger, we might see it happen, I doubt it as Carlo is going to want a few players come summer.

Essien's injury has a'complication'. Chelsea's physios seem to have missed something in knees lately, Deco is a state, Zhirkov's are dodgy, Bosingwa is out, Essien is on the sidelines, thank God Drogba is over his problems (touch wood). They think Essien could be out for another month basically.

Do i speak for everyone else when I ask why hasn't Sunny been blocked?

Quaresma would of been great but he was never utilised properly. Even when we had alot of fixtures, Hiddink said the team were tired and unfit, but he still kept Quaresma in the reserves, humiliating. Inter would of sold him aswell, probably a straight swap for Deco. In fact, that would of been very good, what a waste.

TruePlatinum - To add to your list , ashley cole is also out for the season..

Any new on how long Zhirkov is out ?

Hope Joe cole plays against West Ham. Looked at our schedule - West Ham , Blackburn and Portsmouth... ( all three teams in the bottom half of table), but chelsea drew with West Ham in dec ..( never understood why we fail sometimes against bottom table teams ).. is it the lack of a dribbling player who can break the bus ??

Playing Anelka alongside Drogba as the front and Malouda + Kalou as wingers seems good to me. Nico really deserved a goal on Sunday; his overall performance was great nevertheless even without finding the net. Drogs seemed a bit tired and lazy, but he was well covered by oversized Stoke defenders. Hard task for him to find a space in such a company.

I really loved to see Malouda and Kalou playing together; their tricks and combination intelligence looked at times as if they were playing indoor futsal. This could really help Sally to get back to old form, so we had enough experienced players to the front in case Nico or Drogs got injured (hope not!) I know that it was Le Arse who tipped Kalou to be a great striker - yep, the one who played Arshavin there as well, much to the Russian´s discontent - but anyway, I would give Sally some more chance just to show his class anywhere on the pitch. He deserves it at least for his approach and patience.

As now Arsenal and MU are gone through ,there will be a huge dissopointment with Chelsea elimination.Believe me guys ,with chelsea exit ,the season will we over.I can imagine jose mourinhio chants by chelsea fans ,if we lose the game.
Chelsea is in a harsh time ,We are not at top again with MORE hard games to come.West ham is not on form but they will suprise chelsea .
Chelsea slips in EPL make arsenal great again.
At chelsea 2-4 demoletion at the bridge half of the chelsea fans started chanting Guss Hiddink,I can imagine the same at Inter clash if the things go wrong.
It will take time for Chelsea FC to bring Class and stability to the club.I hate MU ,but someone like fergusen ,who lose two of his big stars ,know how to sort things out.

And Didier is Africa's number one, yet again! What a sweet birthday gift! I am so happy for our hero!

And Essien has this to say:

'Congratulations to Didier for winning this superb award. He has worked hard over the last year for Chelsea and Ivory Coast and he deserves every award he wins.

'The winner is chosen by people who know and understand the game and all three of us in the running would have loved to have won it, but there can be only one winner and this time it is Didier - Well done mate.

'I hope this is a sign of things to come in the upcoming Chelsea versus Inter Champions League game. For a Chelsea player to beat an Inter player Eto'o for the award could be a good omen ahead of the game.'

Feeling the pressure of Inter game .. I hope we don't lose any players to injury in west ham game.. we don't have any cushion so as to rest players.. a simple 1-0 win is all what is needed against west ham .. hope we don't again make a mess of our lives..

Feeling the pressure of Inter game .. I hope we don't lose any players to injury in west ham game.. we don't have any cushion so as to rest players.. a simple 1-0 win is all what is needed against west ham .. hope we don't again make a mess of our lives..[/quote]
essien could return to training to next week he could play in 2-3 weeks 95 percent he should be fit to play manu match

Well, to those who question Hilario's position and shouted for Turnbull's name, the time has come whether you like it or not its happening. But I do believe Carlo will demand for more protection for our young keeper and with regards to the Stoke game, so expect Terry and Alex to be the best bodyguard for Turnbull. No point moaning over injuries, but the key will be our boys in front. No more fooling around, the weight will be on Didier and Anelka to finish West Ham off at least 2-0 before HT. Its not arrogance, its not over-confident, its simply an expectation if we want to reclaim our dominance. Our Treble show starts tomorrow! Blue is always the colour. KTBFFH!!!!

Call it coincidence, we would be visited by two teams managed by the best chelsea player and manager ever. And there are also players like c. cole, parker and steve clark, although I prefer the asst. manager in him. The west ham game could be a tricky one. That said, even a match against Portsmouth would force me to prefix the word tricky before it, if one is to go by chelsea's recent form.
Ballack would be signing a euro 60k + 20k for a 20+ appearance in the season. Thats approximately half the wage he took home in his first season. Although it would be highly improbable to convince Anelka & Cole on such a deal, it is learnt that Gourlay did think on the same lines. Infact, cole was offered something around euro 36k, which suggests we can bid adieu to cole this summer. I just can't stand the sight of him in that red.
Manutd and Arsenal are through to the next round. While Liverpool managed a narrow defeat against mighty lille in the consolation cup. It just defies logic when you see Benitez holding onto his job amidst his side's mediocrity. That said, let the loserfools chant 'In Rafa we trust' until they bust. And about Milan & RM, I think this possibly what they would do the next season. You will see Milan taking on loan more 32+ aged players and RM breaking more banks while Uefa ignoring it and coming up with another scheme or rule to shun chelsea progress.
And what is this thing about injuries. Are they contagious?

I think that we're going to be in for a up and down day tomorrow. But rightly said, the fighht starts tomorrow, business end of the season as they say. We can't let West Ham to build up the confidence to fight us. We need to kill it off by half time and then add a few more to get the goal difference up. We don't want to see us level on points with man utd at any stage and that is the safety net. We need Anelka and Drogba to score tomorrow so they are on form for inter.
Not great news on Turnbull but not bad either. He won't be worse than Hilario at Man City or Carson against Croatia. I love that he is playing on Tuesday, if we get through, it has the makings of a truly memorable season
Experts think Chelsea will run riot tomorrow, they also thought we'd beat Man City. I think it's a 2-1 win tomorrow.

Inter lost to Catania last night, they played their best 11. Lucio who was brilliant against us at san siro was probably the worst player in that game. Muntari got 2 yellow cards in 2 min after coming in a sub. Sneijder Stankovic everyone had their hands and feet tied down.

[quote comment="80774"]Inter lost to Catania last night, they played their best 11. Lucio who was brilliant against us at san siro was probably the worst player in that game. Muntari got 2 yellow cards in 2 min after coming in a sub. Sneijder Stankovic everyone had their hands and feet tied down.[/quote]

Catania got at them running at them .. and they couldnt handle it!

I think chelsea is capable of 3-0 against inter, we need lampard to be on form, and drogba... to give the lamp-drog combo!

guys we need back up keepers next season aswell.... what do u guys think about Doni (roma), I like as well manuel neuer, joe hart as well. A team like chelsea needs outstanding back up keepers, we simply cant after misfortunes such as these in our season... and it has happened to us on too many occasions, were we loose keepers at critical stages in the season.

Today, the second goal was made by Terry. He did what our midfielders were supposed to do, we dont have anyone to run at defenders and push them and peg them back. We need more pace in midfield, we need someone like Robben. 4-1 Drobga getting back on Rooney's heals perfect result. I just dont want Malouda at LB against Inter. Arsenal also win in injury time 7 mins were added god knows where 7 extra mins came from. I feel bad for Hull with 10 men they were the better team.

The boys must be ready for Inter now, its eluded for too long now this is our season this is our trophy and this is our game to lose. We have a great team great spirit, we will welcome Inter to their worst nightmares and school them proper.

Nice result today
good game from Malouda but Im not going to talk him up too much as west ham dont have good wingbacks. Good that Drogba picked up some goals. Good to see us testing the keeper from outside the box again. It annoys me when players like Lampard, Ballack, Malouda, Drogba, Anelka, Deco, Essien and more can't seem to test the keeper. Shots like Lampards are perfect because the keeper is already stranded and our strikers are a step ahead of the defenders as they run to the net whereas the defenders are looking to block the shot
It would of been better for Anelka to get on the scoresheet. Malouda, Anelka and Ivanovic should be our biggest assets against Mourinho as he had very little contact with them. We just need to do what Liverpool did to Real Madrid last year, just come out the blocks running hard and get as many strong on target shots as we can (not to say shooting all the time), players should be getting teed up for 20 yard, hard and low shots more often. Our play has slowed down of late, injuries and weariness are taking their toll, just gotta hang in.

Once again, Im with Denver, we should pick up a keeper because we should have a stable guy to hold the team in absence of Cech (but he himself is a touchy subject). Turnbull could be that guy but he needs games and seeing as Carlo hasn't played him much in cup games, I'm not sure he could do it without a few loan seasons.
Really like Joe Hart, hope he starts for England as he deserves it, but players like him won't be looking to play second fiddle to anyone, especially after such an impressive season at Birmingham so far

Good game and good result in the end, but in the first half I seriously doubt we would make it. Our main concern was not West Ham, but our own game. It looked like some of the guys got kind of psychic bloc, maybe because of the necessity to win every single match over and over again. Until The Captain made his impressive run and caused havoc in WHU defense, I was not at all convinced.

The best player was undoubtedly Malouda, as he terrorised the WHU defense on the left. His ball tricks and precise passing are a joy to watch. Finally, the amount of time and confidence invested in him while he played not well at all, seemed to be too fragile and injury-prone for PL, etc. is getting its reward.

Drogs was twice exactly where he had to be, otherwise as usual. Sad to say, Anelka anonymous - it seemed he did not know where to be again - most of the time he met the ball in the centre of the pitch, which is certainly not his job.

Frankie - a bid tired, but had his good moments as well - at least shot attempts. Ballack played his usual, walking around, winning important balls and distributing them. I really loved his movement to the front of the attack where he used his head to direct an aerial ball to Drogs who tried his shot. This was a good piece of football tactics.

After some time, Mikel had a good game too. Although he is not able to deliver the ball to Ballack and Lamps close to the box, he is good at holding the ball and gets better tactically. An aerial ball to Drogs in the first half was pretty good.

Defense - brilliant Alex, good work JT and Brana (that man is a beast physically!), Ferreira did OK.

And finally, Turnbull. Hard to judge him as he had no work at all. The shot of Parker would be too much even for Cech, the second one was well blocked by our new goalie. At least he can kick the ball over the half-line and direct it where he wants - I have to appreciate it after watching Hilario

[quote comment="80779"]Nice result today
good game from Malouda but Im not going to talk him up too much as west ham dont have good wingbacks...... [/quote]

A one line of praise is a bit too harsh on Malouda. Even though it was Spector's inability to contain Malouda, the latter's immense contribution to the game all-round was creditable for the match itself to be termed as the 'Malouda game'. Our sole threat came from the left flank. And if Chelsea deserves any praise for a scoreline so impressive then it is truly owed to Malouda.
The others had an OK game. Joe was really impressive considering the time he was on the pitch. Overall we really dominated the game. But it comes to a point, where it becomes quite predictable that our attacks shall be concentrated on the left. I don't think Jose shall fall prey to the obvious. Although, this will certainly provide Ivanovic the scope for innovation (our sole hope on the right considering Anelka's tendency to wander about the left and Ballack's role to fallback). Our lone san siro goal was an outcome of Iva's outburst. That is why I would like to see Joe assisting Ivanovic.
It was really important to have Zhirkov back as we could not have missed out on the services of Malouda in the wings for the Inter game. Turnbull looked confident and could be counted on for the tie. Alex has had a good couple of games and both him and JT should be capable of leaving Turnbull unexposed.

i noticed something yesterday, Ballack was up chesting down the ball for Drogba... i thing we will see alot of thoe... trying to tee up team mates.
i agree with my mates we need to get out the blocks early, ask questions! of their keeper and defenders, i honestly believe Alex should be the partner to Terry,
Paulo did well once again.. i thought he actually looked more comfortable at LB than at RB ..lol.
Anelka... wow what can i say..... I will prefer to see Kalou start over him.. but it wont happen... Anelka needs to show up in games!! I want to see J.cole come on at around 60-65 minutes... to have a real run at them. If chelsea dont score in the first half.. expect them to come out in the same mood as they did against WHU.... believe me!

Denver. Your first line up is by far, alot better and more stable than the second.
Chelsito. I know what you're saying but if I elaborate abit more;
Malouda had a good game yesterday, he has been a cut above his old form for a long time now. However and no disrespect to West Ham, Malouda is talented, but West Ham don't offer enough to even contain Malouda so this could well have just been masterminded by yours truly Mr Ancelotti. Malouda, stat-wise, excelled in the game. Im saying it is good that he's done that, but I don't want to start singing his praises until he cuts up a big fish like Inter.

To be honest, Im quite excited about Tuesday. Inter lost....with another player being sent off (I hope Chelsea don't look for free kicks though). Zhirkov should be fit (Im not 100% keen on him as a defender, he has already given 2 pens I think) but nonetheless he will be a boost for us and will allow us alot more attacking freedom. Besides, Malouda and Kalou both track back well and are quick on their feet so we could well end up dominating Maicon. Not many teams can boast to be as strong on the left side of the pitch as Chelsea are. It will be a fight but Inter are not in the same cut as Chelsea. The strikers are not playing well right now, the midfield bar sneijder is very defensive. Its just a solid backline we need to topple and we are more than capable of doing it. But I'm asking Ancelotti does not start Anelka if he is going to play how he has recently. KTBFFH

I am a neutral but I still dont think chelsea have the personnel to win the champions league.

As far as the EPL is concerned I think they have already blown away the opportunity to stretch their lead at the top and hence win the title.

United lost important players at the start of the season, they have almost played the EPL season season this year with a makeshift defense and they still look in a better position to win the league.

Chelsea on the other hand, besides having kept all their stars, playing their strongest team in all the matches are still making it harder and harder for themselves. players like kalou, mikel, j.cole, deco, ballack ,belletti etc are not good enough to take the club to the next level. though they still have a good squad but they dont have that killing instinct (like united) to finish off a season in style.

Maybe thats the reason chelsea will remain one of the biggest club but will never ever become the biggest club in the world. I guess that separates the boys from the men.

Maverick, I understand what you're saying, and it is an opinion you are entitled to but Fifa club rankings tell me something different. Chelsea might not revered as man utd, liverpool, real madrid, barcelona, inter milan, ac milan or juventus in terms of pedigree because everyone feels money is all chelsea is.
I think you have to be fair, if you buy a club or become manager, would you:
a)buy all the stars you can, put your youth player on the pitch nearly every game even though he is poor and have to reassemble your squad every other season because players leave in search of regular football and champions league
or do you
b) bring in players to fill the holes you have now, bring in the facilities to make your own stars rather than get a chequebook out and then keep tweaking the the team until it has won every trophy coveted.

Chelsea may have had an influx of players, but don't forget they had talent before abramovich, they were a mid table team. Players like Zola and Terry are living proof and it doesn't stop there.

You should also remember United were in the same position as Chelsea a few years back, just before scolari and Chelsea finished behind a sub-standard man united riding the back of 42goal ronaldo.

I think you're very silly for thinking Chelsea are not a 'big club'. Robinho knew about Chelsea, Chelsea were consistently progressing in all competitions, particularly the champions league. And if that isn't enough, Chelsea have 2 league titles and have never finished below 3rd in the league since abramovich. Can all the other clubs you may call big say that? nope.

Malagantz
really don't have a clue man, thought it was abit silly, even if i dont like him, it just goes to show they dont think he can do it even though he did it last season so he has already shown he is capable of retaining status

So pumped for tomorrow, whats going on with updates, no west ham, no inter?

If Joey needed anymore motivation to play well, he's got it. Capello will be looking for another talent now that Beckham is out of contention, its a shame, it would of been a nice way to end his career.

[quote comment="80794"]will any1 plz tell me... why is carlo going with anelka?? even when he is looking out of sorts... why doesn't he give a start to sturridge.. as he pairs very well with drogba and plays upfront...[/quote]

good point but instead we should give this opportunity to Joe i'm sure he will be completely up for it.

we have no choice but to go with the 4-3-3 with as many people who can cross well as possible.

and please Mikel let tommorow be one of your good days where you concentrate for 90+ mins.